


Runaway

by Caustic Remedy (xxSilverChaos)



Series: Stories in Progress (Ficlets) [6]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Children, Childhood Friends, Childhood Trauma, M/M, Work In Progress, Young Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-12
Updated: 2014-03-12
Packaged: 2018-01-15 10:32:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,380
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1301677
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xxSilverChaos/pseuds/Caustic%20Remedy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The promise of mischief was always too much of a temptation. There was nothing left for him here anyway. This was it, his chance, his escape to freedom.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Runaway

**Author's Note:**

> Work In Progress. Not Beta'd. Plot Bunny. Not sure when this will be continued. May be a little OOC at first.
> 
>  

Six young warriors stood before the golden throne of Asgard, shame faced and huddled as if to hide from the stern gaze of the Allfather who stood before them, looking down upon them all with a most grave expression on his face.

Of the six, it was Loki who stood at the forefront. His face hidden behind an emotionless mask. Beside him was Thor, a look of regret etched onto his features. He was almost wilting in his place from the tongue lashing he knew was to come. Behind them stood the Warriors Three and the young Lady Sif, heads bowed.

The silence in the room was tense and it continued to be so for some time before the Allfather spoke, his words measured and thunderous. It was with a heavy heart that his gaze locked onto his youngest, Loki.

"I am very disappointed in you, Loki." He began, locking eyes with the expressionless mask that the young boy wore.

"You are a Prince of Asgard and I had expected more from you. Perhaps it was foolish to think that you of all others would know the risks."

He could see the moment the mask broke, the slight downturn of the boys lips and the pain in those green eyes that met his unflinchingly, but he continued on despite that.

"I can not allow this to go unpunished. You who have walked across the nine realms at your leisure even at this age should known better. You have risked bringing upon us a most terrible fate. You, yourself, could easily have been killed."

It was here that he lost his own composure, thinking of the moment when he had arrived in that frozen realm only to see the children cowering in fear behind Loki. A great and terrible snow beast bearing down upon them, seconds away from tearing into their flesh.

He could not bare to think about it for to long for fear that the pull of the Odin sleep would become too much to resist. The fear within his heart for his children was still burning strongly. Had he not arrived in time he could have lost them... It did not do well to dwell on the memory.

"Do you not recall the stories we have taught you? There is much to fear in these realms. Horrors that even the strongest of our soldiers can not face and survive. I had thought you old enough now to bare such responsibilities, but it seems I was mistaken."

Silence followed the strong words that echoed out across the great gilded hall. The children were fidgeting and it seems that the error they had made was weighing heavily on their minds. It pained him to have to do this, but it was for the best.

"I am sorry, Loki. You have left me with no choice. You are to return to your chambers at once. Do not attempt to leave until such time as I allow it. I will be placing a guard at your door. When the hunts are over, we shall speak again of this. For now, I have no time to waste as the beasts draw ever nearer."

"Thor, Lady Sif, Volstagg, Fandral, Hogun," He addressed each of them in turn, "I thank you for your efforts to protect Loki, but your actions were foolish and a danger to us all."

"I am afraid I can not let this fault of judgement go unpunished. Each of you will be sentenced to 100 hours of service with the guards of the realm. Perhaps there is still hope for you yet. For now, return to your lessons at once."

Turning he stepped back to his throne, dismissing the young ones with a wave of his hand. For now he had no time to waste on this matter. Loki's run in with the frost beast and his wanderings on Jotunheimr had not gone unnoticed. The situation could not be allowed to escalate further. He would need to speak with Laufey.

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

Thor, Sif, and the Warrior's three quickly turned and all but ran from the throne room, not sparing a glance to the youngest in their group. Loki followed behind them at a leisurely pace and did not look up as the doors swung open for them. He was just quick enough to slip out before they closed once more.

No, he paid them no mind for at the moment he was much too busy reflecting on what had just occurred. His thoughts were lost, head bowed as he refused to meet the eyes of those walking the palace halls. His short black hair hanging lose from its usual style. Not long enough to hide the glare in his eyes and the faint sneer on his face from the world.

At his sides his hands were fists, held tightly to prevent the view of violent green sparks that fizzled just beneath his skin in his rage. He could not believe that the previous few minutes of his life had actually occurred.

He had been rendered speechless for the first time. His pretty lies forgotten, his quick tongue turned to lead as Volstagg had greatly teased at him many a time. For the blame of this entire escapade had been shifted upon him so blatantly that it had taken him a moment to realized that he even had need to defend himself.

His emerald eyes had widened and he could not turn his gaze away as he listened to the Warrior's three recite the tale that had most likely been made up on the spot. Loki would never have thought the three fools to be so adept at lying through their teeth.

In the corner of his sight, he could remember seeing Thor's eyes widen as well. It seemed at least that his fool of a brother was not at all pleased that Loki would be made to take full blame. Perhaps it was just as well. Perhaps the fool would finally realize what sort of filth he had befriended. To be too cowardly to face the Allfather in light of their mistakes...how pitiful.

Fendral's lilting voice had filled his ears. The words not registering as they should until the room fell silent once more. He had glanced upwards, eyes finding and settling upon the figure that stood tall and imposing upon the throne platform. It simply wasn't possible that the Allfather would buy such nonsense.

The mere idea that he would run headlong into danger and need rescue by The Warrior's three was ridiculous. Yet a part of him still feared. Would the Allfather believe him or would he once again fall victim to the lies told about him?

It seemed Thor had had enough by that point and if the way he had glared at his so called friends with all the anger he possessed, which knowing Thor could be quite frightening, was anything go by he had quite enough.

Thor obviously had a lot to say and could not hold back any longer. The fool quickly turned to the Allfather, a pleading look in his blue eyes. It seemed Thor would fight for him as Loki knew he would, but it would be no helping him.

"Father! That is not what occurred! Loki was merely..."

As Loki had suspected, Thor was silenced, a deep unsettling sound of anger turned his way. The blonde boy stepped back, closing his mouth firmly and looking away from that angry blue eye of the Allfather and straight into Loki's masked green.

Thor had quickly turned away from him feeling far too guilty to look back at Loki who stood in silence at Thor's side.

There was nothing he could say to save himself. He could not admit the truth. He had left the hunting party of his own violation and had wondered into the frozen pillars of ice to appease his own curiosity. The Allfather would be far angrier to learn this truth and so there was nothing more to say on the matter. He would not plead to the Allfather. It was an act that was far beneath him. He had out grown the childish expectations of love he'd once harbored.

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

Loki glared at the guard standing outside his rooms even as the door swung open with a motion of his hand, just missing the sentinel who did not blink at the show of magic. Instead, the guard simply bowed his head to the prince and then continued his watch, eyes locked straight ahead.

Storming into his rooms, he slammed the door closed behind him with a sharp wave of his hand. The sound did little to calm the rage and hurt which boiled within him at the unfair treatment he suffered with. Now that he was in this private place, he allowed his mask to fall and the pain of tears stung in the back of his eyes. Objects trembled in his room, magic swirling beneath pale skin, wanting to burst out of him and express all the anguish he held within.

'Fools! All of them! The Allfather all the more so!'

His indignation at what had just occurred in the throne room had him simmering. How could the man who claimed to be his father be so blind.

Hours passed as he tried in vain as he tried to forget. His usual activities held no interest to him. Books were skimmed and discarded, plans tossed aside to make way for sketches of the Warrior's imminent deaths. At some point he simply allowed himself to fall into bed and close his eyes tightly in hopes the day would end.

It was not yet a full night when he awoke from his fitful rest. Already he was feeling the lack of sleeping hours deep to his bones, a throbbing ache in the back of his head. He had not noticed what had awakened him as he sat up in bed, but there was no returning to the relaxed state now that he was fully awake. Instead all of the memories of hours before returned to assault him. He felt once more the cold burn of rage within him.

'Thor would be dead and gone without me!'

Who was it that saved him from that bilgesnipe the summer before last! Who was it who hid Fandral from the fathers of the girls whose innocence he'd taken. He had helped sneak Volstagg from the kitchen servants who had sought him for stealing the nights dinner from the royal kitchens and even the Lady Sif had benefited from him, his magic allowing her to observe in secret the guards training and yet, they had all betrayed him.

Even his own Father chosen to punish him before allowing him to defend himself from the accusation...

'Though it was my idea to sneak off into that norn forsaken place, they were the ones who followed me. If they had not, that beast would not have found me. Those fools have no idea the importance of stealth in foreign realms.'

As he sat with his thoughts stewing, his luminous green eyes seemed to glow into the faint light around him. The light of Asgard had long since faded into starlight night. It had been hours since his father's lecture and his subsequent punishment yet it was as if it had happened moments ago.

To be confined to his bedchambers for the remainder of the hunting months, like a babe. He was almost 500 years old! The humiliation of it was burning within him.

'What would those fools have done if not for my magicks! If I had not turned back, realized they were following. If I had not chased after Thor when he stormed into the frozen ruins...'

He shuddered, fearful. He remembered the stink of the great beasts breath as he loomed over him. Razor sharp teeth posed to rip into him and all the others had done was cower away from him. He knew if not for the Allfather, he may very well be dead.

'Well, see if I ever bother with them again! The spineless cowards!'

Loki continued to rage in his mind as he paced across his bedroom. Sparks of green magic were shooting from his fingertips in his frustration. Around him things seemed to flutter in an unseen wind.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Suddenly though, quite suddenly a thought came to him that drew his mind away from his troublesome thoughts and instead brought to him the glorious temptation of mischief.

Already he was straightening from his hunched position on his bed, raising his head to glance over towards the door to his chambers. His green eyes were alight and a mischievous smile was tugging at his lips. 

It seemed he did not so easily learn his lesson. Already the idea of escape had come to him, building on his thoughts of revenge. It was a plan that though not well thought out, amused him to no end.

He would run away. Loki knew it would be no easy task to escape the royal guard at his door. No doubt he would familiar with the workings of magicks, but the challenge...

Loki had never really contemplated running away before, but the thought of leaving Asgard behind was so tempting. No longer having to cower in his brother's shadow, putting up a fake smile to indulge the boy or his ridiculous friends. No more taunting or sneering or 'I'm disappointed in you' stares.

The freedom he sought was just beyond his reach, on the other side of those doors.

His smile became a grin and he jumped up, rushing through his room as silently as he could to gather his things into a satchel that he tossed on his bed. Grabbing a cloak from his trunk and tying his dagger to his hip, he wondered if he dared stop for provisions before he left.

It would probably be for the best. He did not know yet where he was going or when he would eat next. Pulling the satchel over his shoulder, he hid it beneath his cloak and tugged the hood over his head. A wave of his fingers silenced his breath and another cloaked him in invisibility.

Finally, a chance at freedom, he could not wait....


End file.
